in 2008, president elect obama invited john mccain to his chicago offices and mccain got a meeting. and as for mitt romney, he got a meal. the president treated mr. romney to a lunch of southwestern grilled chicken and, wait for it, white turkey chili. white turkey chili. who knew the white house had such a good sense of humor. gotta go everything, thanks, see you tomorrow. >> eliot: good evening. i'm eliot spitzer. this is "viewpoint." the white house confronted republican leaders today with a new vision of how the country should navigate what we at "viewpoint" prefer to call the fiscal slope or austerity bomb. the white house proposal wasn't well received. treasury secretary timothy geithner met with house speaker john boehner and laid out a detailed list from president obama that includes $1.6 trillion in tax increase over ten years. more stimulus spending to boost the economy including home mortgage refinancing and the permanent end to congressional control over the debt ceiling. in return, president obama is offering republicans $400 billion in entitlement cuts over ten years.